Valve



W. E. SLOAN VALVE Nov. 24, 1942-.

Filed Feb, 26, 1940 lNvl-:NToR WILL/AM E lSLO N BYU) ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 24, 1942 VALVE William E. Sloan, River Forest, Ill., assigner to Sloan Valve Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporav tion of- Illinois Application February 26, 1940, Serial N0. 320,789

c claims. (c1. 137-111) This' invention relates to valves, but is conc'erned'more particularly with valves which are capable ci quietly throttling a ow and of shutting ofi the now entirely. The general object 0i' the invention is the production of a new and improved combined quiet-throttling and shut-01T valve, termed a control valve, adapted particulariy for use in connection with a direct-connected flush valve.

A specific object of the invention is the provision of an angle-pattern valve of the above character arranged with a side inlet and an end outlet, whereby the` length of the valve may be increased as much as needed without affecting the distance which the Valve extends away from a iinishedwall surface through which the supply pipe connected with the inlet of the valve eX- tends.

Another speciiic object is the production of a new and improved valve-operating arrangement which is not subject to longitudinal movement giving rise to undue wear and to clicks or other noisesincident to the opening and closing of the associated flush valve.

Another object is the provision of suitable means for supporting and guidingthe Valve and throttle mechanism so that it is accurately centralized in its highly throttled positions.

Another object is to provide the control valve with a readily renewable throttle, and to provide vfor the self-centering of the throttle when it is replaced or renewedf Another object is to provide a new and improved cushion assembly for receiving the impact of the high-velocity jets emerging from the re- L' strict-ed throttling throat and quietly diverting them into a slowly moving stream.

Still another object is to provide a control valve which is readily adjustable to any desired throttling position and in which the throttle GENERAL DESCRIPTION 'Referring now to the accompanying drawing, prising Figures l to 9, they show sufficient menty of .the invention to enable. the invention to be understood.

Figure 1 is a top sectional View showing the preferred embodiment of the new and improved shut-ori and throttle Valve` shown, for convenience, in the position it assumeswhen rotated ninety degreesr ina counter-clockwise direction from the installed position illustrated atl in Figurel;

Figure 2\is a similar View, partly in section, showing the deviceadjusted to throttle the iiow from a comparatively high-pressure supply line;

Figure 3 is a further similar view, partly in section, showing the device adjusted to itsfullopen position to pass the required rate of flow when installed in a location where the supply pressure is comparatively low; f

Figure 4 shows a top view of the device when installed adjacent a iinished wall surface and in association with a direct-connected flush valve;

Figure 9 is a quarter-section front view of the cushion assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A'detailed description of the illustrated apparatus will now be given.

The installcnion,

Referring now particularly to Figures 4 and5, the inlet 2l of the combined throttle and shut-off valve l is connected to the outer end of supply pipe 43, extending out through wall 49'.V The outlet 3 of valve is connected through nipple .28 to the inlet of flush Valve 50, and flush valve 50 is arranged to discharge water for flushing purposes through the flush tube 52 to a fixture such as a water c1oset,'a slop sink, or the like. As is well known, a direct-connected flush Valve, such as ush valve 5i),V is arranged to open itself hydraulically upon a manipulation of handle 5|, and to close off hydraulically aftera predetermined quantity of water has been discharged.

The function of the Valve I is to close off the supply entirely when desired, so as'to permit of inspection or repair of the llush valve 50, and

views oi an installation including one embodi 5.3 also to quietly throttle the flow through the flush A short cylinder.

valve 50 to some predetermined rate of flow, ordinarily from eighteen to thirty gallons a. minute.

The control valve Referring now to Figures 1 to 3, and first to Figure 1, the improved control valve includes a casing I which has inlet 2 threaded to receive a supply pipe, and an outlet 3 threaded and machined to form one portion of the usual groundjoint union. The discharge end of the casing is provided with an accurately machined throttley of stem 5 is normally held snugly` against the J retaining shoulder by an outward force exerted by the water pressure.

The female-threaded adjusting gland III is provided adjacent the inner end of stem 5. This gland is rotatably held in position by the annular enlargement II thereon, which is contained in the annular recess provided by the retaining gland I2.

The stem I3 of valve I5 is threaded for movement back and forth Within the adjusting gland I0 to close and open the valve I5 as desired when stem 5 is rotated to turn the gland I0. Valve I5 and stem I3 are prevented from rotating, during and after adjustment, by the guide stem I4, which operates within the illustrated drilled hole in bonnet 9.

The throttle proper, 23-2I, shown best in Figures 6 and 7, is removably held concentrically against the end of the neck portion 29, on the discharge end of valve I5, by retaining screw I8.

The annular cushion assembly 24, shown best in Figures 8 and 9, is held in the illustrated position in the annular recess formed between the illustrated shoulder within outlet 3 and the supply end of discharge nipple 28. Nipple 28 is removably held in sealing engagement with the outlet 3 by the coupling nut 21.

The throttle construction Referring particularly to Figures 6 and '7, the

throttle proper comprises the metal insert member 23, which may be termed a thick washer or a The flat lower surface merges with the cylindrical outer surface by a radius rather than meeting at a sharp corner, as this .construction was found to give better results. A'Ihe wire-gauze covering 2| may comprise one or two layers. Best results were obtained with ,an kinner layer of thirty-mesh Monel gauze and V'an outer layer of eighty-mesh Monel gauze.

',Ihe wire-mesh covering is preferably first dieformed in the shape of a cup, following which the metal insert 23, with the lead washer 22 therein, is placed within the cup, and the upper side portions of the die-formed cup are then `turned over and pressed or stamped tightly down intothe lead washer 22 to form a smooth top surface. The hole through the top and bottom oi.

fthe covering 2I and through lead washer 22 may ,then be punched to the same size as the central hole through the insert piece 23. The lead washer 22 lies within the receiving recess in the insert piece 23, and its function is to yield more or less when the stamping is performed, and to hold the covering material rmly imbedded therein.

In order to provide for the ready removal of the throttle 2| through the outlet 3 of the casing after the nipple 28 and the cushion assembly 24 have been removed, the retaining screw I8 ls equipped with a pull-oft' washer 2U, which has four inwardly projecting prongs projecting into the annular recess in screw I8, between the head thereof and the threaded portion. Preferably, the prongs of washer 20 are rst bent outwardly and upwardly suiiiciently to enable the washer to be dropped in place over the threaded portion of the screw I8, assembled with the throttle piece. Following this, the prongs of washer 20 are flattened down to the position illustrated. In the assembled position of the .throttle proper, washer 26 lies in the recess I9 in the end of neck portion 29 as illustrated in Figure 1.

The vcushion assembly The cushion assembly 24 includes a number of superposed washers 25, preferably about eight or nine, contained within the container 33 and stamped from, for example, thirty-mesh Monel wire gauze. Container 33 may be conveniently produced by forming a comparatively deep cup of thin material and then punching out the bottom portion of the cup, which is then inverted to form the top portion of the container 33. A slight inwardly extending rim of about one sixtyfourth inch in diameter is left around this top portion of the container to retain the washers 25 in place after they are finally assembled. The solid-metal support washer 26 is next inserted through the open end of the formed cup, following which the sides of the cup may be forced inwardly to hold the washer 26 within the container 33 and to give a denite height to the container sufficient to allow the required number of washers 25 to lie uncompressed, as it has been found that best results are obtained when the individual washers have some freedom of longitudinal movement.

After the container 33 has been formed with the support washer 26 therein, the previously stamped-out washers 25 may be inserted from the top, each of them springing inwardly slightly to pass within the slightly inwardly turned top rim of the container.

Operation The operation of the disclosed control valve will now be described. For this purpose, it will be assumed that this device has been installed as shown in Figures 4 and 5, in the closed-off position in which it is illustrated in Figure l, and that the supply pressure has been admitted through the supply piping and the supply nipple 48, Figure 4, to the inlet 2 of the device.

The stem 5 is now turned in a counter-clockwise direction to correspondingly turn the adjusting gland III through the transverse blade 8 on the lower end of stem 5 and the cooperating notch in gland III. The turning of glands I0 causes the threaded stem I3 to be drawn into the gland I0 to draw the valve I5 away from its seated position, rotation of the valve I 5 and stem I3 being prevented by the guide stem I4.

When valve I5 is raised slightly from its seated position, a discharge path is opened through the valve along the comparatively small space between the throttle 23--2I and the surrounding throttle throat in the casing I. The flow iirst occurring is ordinarily a comparatively explosive mixture of air and water which causes considerable agitation in the supply piping. This action is ordinarily suflcient to cause the flush valve 5l! to open morer or less by a compression of the vreplaced by the incoming water.

It is to be noted that, in the initial opening stage of the control valve, the throttleV 23--2I lies considerablyA below the fixed valve seat and that there is an annular pocket above the throtf tle between the neck 29 and the surrounding throat into which foreign matter carried in by vthe rushing mixture of air and water may find temporary lodgrnent. It is to be noted, also, that the jet direction is such that any such foreign material (such as pipe scale, chips from pipe threading, and white lead or other pipe-joint material) impinges against the neck portion 28 and -istthus not driven directly into the covering 2| of the throttle 23-2I. VThis provision insures Sciated flush valve 50 is sufficient to reclose the flush valve in the event that it was raised from its seat more or less by the initial flow through ythe control valve. takes place as the control valve is opened further.

vFor the purpose of cleaning out the supply pipving and enabling any foreign matter lodged within the control valve to be washed on throughthe vflush valve 50 and be discharged from the piping system, the control valve is rst opened fully Following this, no further flow to the position illustrated in Figure 3, following Y :which the flush valve 50 is actuated one or `more vtimes to permit a full and unthrottled flow to occur, and to enable all the trapped air to be removed from the supply piping.

After the piping has been thus cleaned out,

lthe control valve is then adjusted to a position more vor less as shown in'Figure 2, depending lupon' the supply pressure and the rate of flow during a flushing operation of valve 50.

' It is to be noted that the throttle throat in lthe casing within which throttle 2| operates comprises a tapered portion 363, about three-eighths inch long in the illustrated device and having van angle of taper of about three degrees on a side, which tapered portion is followed by a `straight or cylindrical portion 3| which is about one-eighth inch in length in the illustrated embodiment.- Therefore, the width of the annular `crevice between throttle 2| and the surroundingV throat may be increased or decreased as desired by adjusting the valve so that the throttle .is extended a lesser or greater distance into the throat portion 3D.

The passage of the stream through the annular throttling throat defined between the throttle v2| and the surrounding throat wall is considerably quieted by virtue of lthe character of the surface vof the throttle 2|. annular jets discharged through the restricted throttling throat are still capable ofgiving rise to noise unless further acted upon orcushioned, as by the cushion element 24. The annular jets tendtopenetrate the layers 25 more or less, and

For the higher pressures, the 'f Vtrol valve.

'shown in Figure l, the flush valve 50 and nipple 28 can be disconnected and removed by unscrew- -ing coupling'nut 21. i

they emerge radially inward into the free inner opening in the cushion element 24, and then flow through the support washer 26, and thence through the nipple 28,as a quiet slowly moving stream.

It has been found that the supportwasher 25 needs to have a thickness greater than Athat dictated by considerations of support strength, in order for the device as a whole to bepsatisfactorily quiet for the intended purpose. Although no altogether satisfactory explanation for ithas been found, when the washerZB is, for example, only `about one thirty-second inch in thickness, some noise is still observed at the higher pressures and rates of flow, which noise is eifectively eliminated by increasing the thickness of the Washer 26 to about one-sixteenth inch or slightly greater. This thickness seems to be ample for the purpose, and no further improvement has been noted as the thickness is further increased over that illustrated, a1- though no bad effects have` been noted by any additional increase in thickness. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of omitting washer 2G entirely, and it was discoveredl Throttle and cushion removal y As'wiu be observed, both the cushion assemblyv and the throttle assembly can be `readily removed for inspection or renewal without closing oil' the main supply Valve (not shown), asY this` may be done'by closing off the illustrated con- With the valve thus closed off as The cushion 24 can now be readily removed .through the outlet 3, following which screw I8` can be backed out to free throttle 23a-2| and' per- A. mit the throttle also to be removed through the outlet, with the valve I5 in seated positionand; the supply pressure on. In the event that-the'v throttle 23-2I tends to stick in place, the enlarged threaded portion of screw 'I8 engages the inwardly turned prongs of pull-off washer 2U, and 'thus rforcibly pulls the throttle 2li-2| away from the face of neck portion 29, and further brings the throttle out of the straight portion `3| of the throat to free it for ready removal.

When Athe throttle 23--2I yis to be replaced, the throttle assembly, including'screw I8, need only be insertedV and thenbrought up tight with the screw lli.V With the construction illustrated, no special attention need be paid to the problem of centralizing the throttle on the valve, for the clearance is small between the outside diameter of the covered throttle and the inside diameter 'of throat portion 3|, and the valve |5,.infclosed position, is held accurately centralized by four short ribs I6, diametrically opposedr in pairs, of

'l which portions of.. two can be seenY inv Figures "-212 and 3. The priofleofribs I5 is shown in dotted l'outline at I'I-in'Figure l.

j lfraises free from them almost as soon" asl it is unseated, permitting freedom of lateral movement of valve I5 and throttle-2| 'sufficient-to permit foreign particles as large asfthe. total `clearance betweenthe` throttle 2| and .the sufrdesire -furth r operation.

roundingl throat to pass through in the working 'position of adjustment.

`Following the replacement of the throttle 23-2l, the cushion assembly 24 may be replaced, and the ush valve 50 reconnected through nipple 28 and coupling nut 21. Then, as soon as th control valve is opened and is set for the rate of flow, the installation is ready for Prevention of clicks and wear -gland I was made in one piece with adjustment stem 5, but this construction gave rise to a double click during each flushing operation, one click at the start and another at the nish. The

4'click at the start of the flush was caused by a longitudinal down-stream movement of the valve assembly, the adjustment stem moving through vthe stem packing 6 by whatever amount of longitudinal play was allowed in the parts for manufacturing tolerance. The click at the end of the flush came as a result of a Imovement in the opposite direction to the allowed extent of longitudinal movement when the discharge pressure was built up during the closing movement of the flush valve.

Besides being annoying by the emitted clicking sounds, these longitudinal move- `ments of the adjusting mechanism of the valve resulted in considerable wear of the concerned -parts, and particularly of the packing 6. Such Wear of the packing would, in many cases, al-

`1ow leakage around the stem. With the disclosed arrangement, in which the adjusting gland l0 is physically separated from the adjusting stem '5, although caused to rotate therewith, all suchv :clicking and wearing actions have been effec.

tively eliminated.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet interconnected through a discharge throat, a shut-off valve and adjustment means for bringing it into and out of seating engagement with said casing around the inlet side of said throat, a throttle secured to said valve on the discharge side thereof, said throttle ybeing Variably cooperative with said discharge `throat as said valve is adjusted toward and away 'from its seated position, said throttle being disposed within said throat when the valve is in seated position and being sufliciently small that in one direction, and pull-off means associated with said screw means and effective responsive tofsaid screw means being turned in the opposite it is removable through said throat and the outlet of the valve casing, screw means for holding 'said throttle attached to said valve whenturned direction for pulling said throttle away from the: j

valve and through said throat to facilitate ready -removal of the throttle through the outlet of Athe casing.

2. A quieting or cushioning structure for use in Vthrottling devices, comprising a number of washers cut or stamped from woven-wire gauze Lorscreen material, a retaining member receiving tand encircling the Washers in superposed relationship to one another, said member having the opposed ends thereof turned inwardly to provide internal-retaining flanges, and an imperforate washer located adjacent the first-named washers within said retaining member on the downstreamv side of the first-namedr washers to support them against distortion responsive to the impact of high-velocity jets.

3. A quieting or cushioning structure for use in throttle valves, comprising a number' of washers cut or stamped from porous material, a.

retaining member receiving and encircling the washers in superposed relationship to one another, said member being provided with opposed flanges to hold the washers therein, and a further washer of comparatively rigid and imperforate material assembled adjacent the first-named washers, said last-named Washer being of approximately the same internal diameter as the first-named washers and having a thickness im'- mediately surrounding the opening therethrough greater than one thirty-second inch, whereby the quieting veil'iciency of the assembly is improved.

4. A quieting or cushioning structure for use in throttle valves, comprising a number of washers cut or stamped from porous material, a retaining member receiving and encircling the washers in superposed relationship to one another, said member being provided with opposed flanges to hold the washers therein, and a further washer of comparatively rigid and imperforate material assembled adjacent the first-named washers, said last-named washer being of approximately the same internal diameter as the first-named Washers and having a thickness immediately surrounding the opening therethrough greater than one twenty-fourth of the diameter of the common passageway through all said washers.

5. A quiet-now throttle and valve comprising a casing having an inlet and an outlet interconnected by a passageway, said casing being of generally tubular or vase-like configuration and having its inlet located at one side thereof and the outlet located at an end, a valve located within said casing and controlled by manual-adjustment means operating through the end of said casing opposite the outlet, said valve means being closable in the direction of flow through the casing against a seat in the casing axially aligned with the outlet, a forwardly projecting throttle mounted on said valve and projecting in the direction of the outlet when the valve is in closed position, said throttle including a solid disc member having a covering of porous metal thereon,

.. an annular washer-like cushion assembly located in said casing downstreamwardly of the seated valve and of the throttle, and means facilitating the removal and replacement of said cushion assembly and said throttle through the outlet of the casing while' said valve is closed off to prevent the concurrent outflow of uid. v

6. A throttle structure for use in an adjustable throttle device, said structure comprising a body member having the general shape of adisc or short cylinder, a thin disc of soft metal recessed into one at face of said body disc, and a covering of drawn porous sheet metal fitting over the other flat face of said body member and over the cylindrical outer surface, and folded down over the flat face containing the thin soft-metal disc, and imbedded in the said soft-metal disc by pressure to retain the cover in place.

WILLIAM E. SLOAN. 

